Regional Integration and Free Movement of Persons: Experience of Europe and NAFTA

Many of the African countries try to replicate the approach used by the European countries in their attempt to create an economically integrated region. Unfortunately, such efforts seldom bear fruit. This is mainly due to either absence or partial existence of some of the most paramount substantive and institutional elements found in the European integration scheme. Movement of persons has been and continues to be an important aspect of the European integration process since the establishment of the European Community. Through time, the scope of movement has broadened to include not just workers (employees) but also other economically non-active actors. This was a result of the interpretations adopted by the European Court of Justice and adoption of subsidiary legislations. The introduction of the concept of ‘European Citizenship’ by the TEU made the right of movement of non-economically active persons a treaty right. Moreover, the free circulation of third country nationals was later introduced through the conclusion of the Schengen Agreement. The European Union is by far the most advanced arrangement with great achievement in terms of free mobility of its citizens. The strength and the mandate given to the Union’s institutions—the commission, the council, the parliament and the Court of justice—have greatly contributed to this success. In contrast, the NAFTA, now USMCA, adopted a different approach which aims at only establishing a free trade area and not a deeper form of integration. In a similar manner as the GATS, discussions of movement of persons under the USMCA are raised in relation to services trade. As the parties undertook to facilitate cross border trade in service, they are required to legitimize some cross-border labour movement to support the free exchange of services between the parties. Here, mobility of persons is considered as a means of facilitating cross border service delivery, and not as a fundamental right of the natural person, hence, its scope is limited to service providers with high professional skill.